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BACKGROUND: Saliva reverse transcriptase-Polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is an attractive alternative for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in adults with less known in children. METHODS: Children with coronavirus disease 2019 symptoms were prospectively enrolled in a 1-month comparative clinical trial of saliva and nasopharyngeal (NP) RT-PCR. Detection rates and sensitivities of saliva and NP RT-PCR were compared as well as discordant NP and saliva RT-PCR findings including viral loads (VLs). RESULTS: Of 405 patients enrolled, 397 patients had 2 tests performed. Mean age was 12.7 years (range, 1.2-17.9). Sensitivity of saliva was 85.2% (95% confidence interval: 78.2%-92.1%) when using NP as the standard; sensitivity of NP was 94.5% (89.8%-99.2%) when saliva was considered as the standard. For a NP RT-PCR VL threshold of ≥103 and ≥104 copies/mL, sensitivity of saliva increases to 88.7% and 95.2%, respectively. Sensitivity of saliva and NP swabs was, respectively, 89.5% and 95.3% in patient with symptoms less than 4 days (P = 0.249) and 70.0% and 95.0% in those with symptoms ≥4-7 days (P = 0.096). The 15 patients who had an isolated positive NP RT-PCR were younger (P = 0.034), had lower NP VL (median 5.6 × 103 vs. 3.9 × 107, P < 0.001), and could not drool saliva at the end of the sampling (P = 0.002). VLs were lower with saliva than with NP RT-PCR (median 8.7 cp/mL × 104; interquartile range 1.2 × 104-5.2 × 105; vs. median 4.0 × 107 cp/mL; interquartile range, 8.6 × 105-1 × 108; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: While RT-PCR testing on saliva performed more poorly in younger children and likely after longer duration of symptoms, saliva remains an attractive alternative to NP swabs in children.

The purpose of this review was to update the clinical characteristics of paroxysmal tonic upgaze in neurodevelopmentally normal children. We made the diagnosis (between 2008 and 2010) in 8 infants referred to us with suspected epilepsy. We found 38 further cases in the literature. In the 46 children (29 boys and 17 girls) tonic upward ocular deviation was first noticed between the age of 2 weeks and 90 months (median: 9 months). This tendency persisted for between 1 and 48 months (median: 7 months). The duration of paroxysmal events was highly variable: brief events lasted between 3 s and 10 min in 50% of the cases, intermediate events between 5 s and 30 min and long events between 10 s and 2 h. The frequency ranged from one every 3 months to 10 per day. In 15 children the episodes of upward deviation of the eyes were associated with an impaired movement coordination. In 2 further children an impaired movement coordination was noted during febrile illnesses. The results of this review in normal children characterize the entity as follows: onset under 2 years of age, a small predilection for the male gender, eventual improvement and recovery, and impaired movement coordination.

Topiramate, which is commonly prescribed for seizure disorders and migraine prophylaxis, sometimes causes metabolic acidosis and hypokalemia. Since the effects of topiramate on acid-base balance and potassium levels have not been well explored in children, acid-base balance, anion gap and potassium were assessed in 24 patients (8 females and 16 males) aged between 4.6 and 19 years on topiramate for more than 12 months and in an age-matched control group. Plasma bicarbonate (21.7 versus 23.4 mmol/L; P